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Vermont Man Sentenced in Son's Death
Kevin J. Kadamus Accidentally Shot His Son to Death
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By John Curran, The Associated Press • August 19, 2009
ST. JOHNSBURY — A man who accidentally shot his 17-year-old son to death while they were turkey hunting pleaded no contest Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter in exchange for a three-year deferred sentence.
Kevin J. Kadamus, described by the prosecution as a model family man, calmly answered questions from Judge Howard VanBenthuysen before entering the plea in Vermont District Court in St. Johnsbury, as his wife and about 50 family members and friends watched from the gallery.
He and his wife declined to comment after the proceeding.
His brother-in-law Tim Fancher said, “It allows us to move beyond this and beyond the heartache and let the healing process begin.”
Kadamus, 45, a computer consultant, also agreed to do 150 hours of community service, appear before a community justice reparation board, forfeit his right to apply for a hunting license for 10 years, and not buy or possess weapons for at least three years.
He previously had pleaded not guilty to the felony charge in the May 1 death of Jacob Kadamus, who was fatally wounded on the first day of Vermont’s turkey-hunting season when he strayed into the area where his father was stalking prey.
Under the deferred sentence, Kadamus will serve no prison time unless he violates the terms of probation during the next three years. In that event, he could receive up to 15 years in prison and $3,000 in fines.
In recent years, state prosecutors have taken a harder line on hunting-related shootings, filing charges in cases that were clearly accidental shootings. When Kadamus was arrested, police called the circumstances tragic but said the law had to be upheld.
“I think this is a very fair agreement under the circumstances of this case, and I hope it begins to bring some healing to the Kadamus family in all this,” said Vermont State Police Detective J.P. Sinclair, who oversaw the investigation.
Kadamus’ lawyers and the prosecutor also called the plea a fair disposition.
“There’s enough punishment probably going within his own mind and his own heart that no punishment this court could mete out could ever match that,” said prosecutor Lisa Warren, who described the shooting as reckless but said Kadamus was by all accounts a model husband and father.
She said the plea struck a balance between honoring the value of the teenager’s life and helping the father and his grieving family heal.
“Everybody’s a victim in this case,” said Duncan Kilmartin, an attorney for Kadamus.
“We could’ve fought for years on whether this was simple negligence or criminal negligence, and a factfinder could’ve gone either way,” said lawyer David Sleigh, who also represented Kadamus.